Surjeet Singh has completed his life term after his death sentence was commuted to a life term in 1989. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:

A case of mistaken identity turned what should have been a moving occasion into international embarrassment on Tuesday.

What was to be the overdue release of an Indian national named Sarjeet Singh, who had been in Pakistani custody for over 30 years serving life imprisonment, was reported as the release of notorious Indian spy Sarabjeet Singh, who has also been in jail in Pakistan for over two decades.

Sarabjeet was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court for his involvement in a string of deadly bombings in Punjab in the ’80s and beginning of the ’90s. All pleas for clemency have thus far been rejected in Sarabjeet’s case – which has been taken up by not only the Indian government but by rights activists on humanitarian grounds. After the rejection of several mercy petitions in the past, he moved a fresh plea with President Zardari. His fifth and final petition carried the signatures of 100,000 Indians.

The news of the convicted spy’s release expectedly sparked off congratulatory reactions on both sides of the border – including by his family. However, it later turned out that the man being released was Sarjeet, not Sarabjeet, Singh – which was clarified close to midnight. It is unclear how the mix-up took place – whether it was official quarters whose information was mistaken or if the reporting by the media was the guilty party.

Who is Sarjeet

Farhatullah Babar told The Express Tribune that the office of the President had no role in the release of Sarjeet. He recalled that the death sentence awarded to him by a military court in October 1985 had already been commuted into life imprisonment in 1989.

Babar said then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on the advice of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had commuted Sarjeet Singh’s sentence into life imprisonment. “In the first tenure of Benazir Bhutto, all the capital sentences given by the military courts were commuted to life imprisonment,” he said adding that it was part of a general amnesty.

According to him, the law ministry has sent a summary to the interior ministry for the release of Sarjeet Singh, who had already completed his term in prison. “He has already completed 22 years. He cannot be kept in jail anymore,” Babar said.

He will be released following clearance from the interior ministry. Under the procedure, the interior ministry will inform the foreign office to contact the Indian authorities through diplomatic channels for a date of release. It is expected that Singh can be repatriated in the next few days once the foreign ministries of the two countries complete the documentation process.

“I once again want to clarify that President Zardari has no role in commuting the sentence of Sarjeet Singh” he reiterated.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2012.

Correction: Earlier, the word “summary” was misspelled in the story. The error has been rectified.

Facebook Conversations

Reader Comments (25)

So sad.
Mr Surjeet, was under illegal confinement since 2010, after expiry of his 20 year plus term for the crime of straying accross the border in a drunken state, that led to the charge of spying.
Regarding Mr Sarabjeet, it was a sad joke on his family.
India should take note of the reaction in Pakistan and the tone and tenor of the clarification by the FO, following the erroneous news of Mr Sarabjeet’s release. It reveals a lot.

@faraz: Take some heart! Incompetency is not the forte of only Pakistanis! Sometime back India released a list of most wanted criminals in Pakistan and it turned out one of them was living in India freely without any charges!

Vienna,June 27,2012
Whoever may be in the media or troika establishment has caused
this confusion should be assured that people on both the sides do
verify according to their own procedure and standards.It makes no
difference as far as value of life Sarabjit,Sarajit or Sarbat. Besides
releasing a person unjustly held in prison after his term over does
not need presidential intervention unless the president´s office itself
a doll´s office.
Taravadu Taranga Trust for Media Monitoring TTTMM India
–Kulamarva Balakrishna

Seems strange. How did President Zardari’s name get involved in this in the first place if this is just a regular completion of sentence and release case. I am happy for Sarjeet Singh (he has suffered enough), but am wondering whether the govt decided to backtrack on Sarabjeet Singh given the hue and cry that emerged on announcement.

Goof up at the highest level.. can only happen in pakistan. This country should get medal for misdeeds, missed opportunities, wrong news, false propaganda, distorted facts and history… we are the best in the world for these.

India remains obsessed with Pakistan. They keep sending RAW trained terrorists across the border to kill & maim Pakistanis. And the rest of them come this website to spill their hate. Shame on you Indians shame!!

Can we expect anything better from this incompetent government? How can it handle grave external affairs which is still failed to handle the internal affairs of Pakistan. An embarrassment for the whole nation because of its non-serious attitude..

India is also on the top as far as goof ups are concerned. Remember the hafeez centre shopkeepers and guard whose pictures were displayed on media as terrorists?
Only Indians can beat Pakistanis in goofiness and stupidity.

Yeah right!!! Stop being defensive. The pictures and identities of ‘terrorists’ were given out OFFICIALLY to the media by your government and made India a laughing stock for the world. Your silly arguments can’t wash away this stigma.